In 1857 Dr. Samuel Birch issued his well-known work on ancient pottery, at that time almost the first attempt at dealing with the whole subject in a comprehensive manner. Sixteen years later, in 1873, he brought out a second edition, in some respects condensed, in others enlarged and brought up to date. But it is curious to reflect that the succeeding sixteen years should not only have doubled or even trebled the material available for a study of this subject, but should even have revolutionised that study. The year 1889 also saw the completion of the excavations of the Acropolis at Athens, which did much to settle the question of the chronology of Attic vases. Yet another sixteen years, and if the increase in actual bulk of material is relatively not so great, yet the advance in the study of pottery, especially that of the primitive periods, has been astounding; and while in 1857, and even in 1873, it was impossible to do much more than collect and co-ordinate material, in 1905 Greek ceramics have become one of the most advanced and firmly based branches of classical archaeology.

It therefore implies no slur on the reputation of Samuel Birch’s work that it has become out of date. Up till now it has remained the only comprehensive treatise, and therefore the standard work, on the subject; but of late years there has been a crying need, especially in England, of a book which should place before students a condensed and up-to-date account of Greek vases and of the present state of knowledge of the subject. The present volumes, while following in the main the plan adopted by Dr. Birch, necessarily deviate therefrom in some important particulars. It has been decided to omit entirely the section relating to Oriental pottery, partly from considerations of space, partly from the impossibility of doing justice to the subject except in a separate treatise; for the same reason the pottery of the Celts and of Northern Europe has been ignored. Part I. of the present work, dealing chiefly with the technical aspect of the subject, remains in its main outlines much as it was thirty years ago; but the other sections have been entirely re-written. For the historical account of vase-painting in Birch’s second edition one chapter of forty pages sufficed; it now extends to six chapters, or one quarter of the work. The subjects on the vases, again, occupy four chapters instead of two; and modern researches have made it possible to treat the subjects of Etruscan and Roman pottery with almost the same scientific knowledge as that of Greece.

A certain amount of repetition in the various sections will, it is hoped, be pardoned on the ground that it was desirable to make each section as far as possible complete in itself; and another detail which may provoke unfavourable criticism is the old difficulty of the spelling of Greek names and words. In regard to the latter the author admits that consistency has not been attained, but his aim has been rather to avoid unnecessary Latinising on the one hand and pedantry on the other.

Finally, the author desires to express his warmest acknowledgments to all who have been of assistance to him in his work, by their writings or otherwise, especially to a friend, desiring to be nameless, who has kindly read through the proofs and made many useful suggestions; to the invaluable works of many foreign scholars, more particularly those of M. Pottier, M. Salomon Reinach, and M. DÉchelette, he owes a debt which even a constant acknowledgment in the text hardly repays. Thanks are also due to the Trustees of the British Museum for kind permission to reproduce their blocks for Figs. 75, 109, 118, 125, 128, 131, 138, 185, 191, and 197, to M. DÉchelette for permission to reproduce from his work the vases given in Figs. 224, 226, and to the Committee of the British School at Athens for similar facilities in regard to Plate XIV. (pottery from Crete). Lastly, but by no means least, the author desires to express to Mr. Hallam Murray his deep sense of obligation for the warm interest he has shown in the work throughout and for the pains he has taken to ensure the success of its outward appearance.

London, January 1905.